Written Statement: Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation in Welsh Public Services (18 September 2025)

In June, I announced that the Welsh Government would establish an Office for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen our internal capability, facilitate informed policymaking and support meaningful collaboration with stakeholders across Wales. I also announced the establishment of a Strategic AI Advisory Group to provide expert advice to Ministers on AI adoption across Welsh public services.

The Strategic AI Advisory Group will meet for the second time later this month to discuss AI skills and priorities for Wales. Alongside this, as part of the Office for AI work programme, I have allocated funding to a series of exciting initiatives which are supporting the responsible implementation of AI across Welsh public services.

The funding will accelerate delivery of the projects and establish a robust foundation for future AI activity. The overarching objective is to clearly demonstrate the practical benefits that AI can offer in enhancing the delivery of public services across Wales. Each project will produce a lessons learned report and share best practice with others across the Welsh public sector.

The projects will:

• develop an up-to-date baseline understanding of AI related activities across Welsh public services;
• undertake an evaluation of the AI scribe tools currently being used across parts of the public sector in Wales, in areas such as social care assessments, to help inform future investment and deployment decisions;
• deploy a platform available for the public sector to test and use AI tools, such as those developed by the Welsh Government and the UK Government, and deploy an AI-enabled content design tool for others to use;
• develop a proof of concept to test the feasibility of a chatbot assistant for the Welsh Government's new StatsWales service, making it easier for people and organisations to find datasets and useful figures without having to search through lots of complicated information;
• develop guidance for use by local authorities and others on how best to efficiently and effectively deploy AI into their services;
• deliver training on AI for public sector workers so that they can use AI; and,
• continue to work with the UK Government on its AI-enabled toolset "Humphrey" to assess how the tools it is developing can be made available and used in Wales.

In addition to this fund, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Chief Whip and Trefnydd has recently agreed to fund a Welsh credit union to participate in a collaborative AI project working with a tech company and two ethical lenders. The project will explore the use of AI technology to streamline core office functions and back-office automation, freeing up staff time to spend on improving the lending process and focussing on the member journey. Learnings from the project will be shared between the three organisations, with other credit unions in Wales, and the Welsh Government throughout the course of the project.

The Welsh Government has also received more than £440k of funding from the UK Government's Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund for the current financial year. It is supporting our leading work on the concept of a minimum digital living standard (MDLS). The MDLS is a benchmark for what people need to be digitally included, covering access to devices and connectivity as well as basic digital skills. We also plan to commission a baseline survey which will provide a national estimate for how many people aged 16 and over living in Wales are below the MDLS. This supplements MDLS pilot projects which are working with organisations that support social housing residents, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and older people across Wales to demonstrate the benefits of meeting the MDLS.

Today, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language also announced that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has confirmed a further £26 million investment over the next five years in our Administrative Data Research Wales Partnership, highlighting the strengths of our approach to secure, ethical and innovative use of data to support research in Wales.

These provide just a snapshot of the breadth of AI and digital activity we are driving across the public sector in Wales. It is vital that the public sector itself has the right AI skills and capabilities to grasp the opportunities AI has to offer in the delivery of public services.

I have decided, therefore, that there is significant benefit in aligning the skills and resources of the Office for AI with those of the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS). As a result, the functions of the CDPS will be integrated into the Welsh Government. I expect this to be achieved by April next year.

Consolidating resources in this way will streamline and strengthen the Welsh Government's digital and AI capabilities, as well as reducing complexity and duplication. It will bring together people who shape policy and those who deliver it. It will bring greater integration and focus to our work whilst maintaining the digital and AI expertise and our ambition for improved public services digitally enabled change.